bla bla bla who care
TLDR:
Idk how we got to a point where "'60% reported open rate (0 link clicks)' = success" rather than "'measurable behavior change indicating information was useful' = success" for my work but it sure is bad!
I sure am spending a lot of effort trying to get a number which has zero impact on anyone's life to be at a specific value!
I am legitimately trying to improve this though. I swear I'm not just complaining.
I am complaining though
what if I typed too much about this subject... ahaha just kidding.. unless
1. I really want to do work that leads to someone having a good experience, or something being meaningfully better for someone...
2. Leadership is fully focused on a communication method that increasingly doesn’t seem to work
(I do Communications, mostly about technology changes)
For the last few years / especially during the pandemic, there has been an increased focus on using mass email, to the point where it's almost the only thing people consider as a way of getting information out...
Which means that right now, what my work actually results in is like. Someone gets an email (which I've carefully crafted to be helpful and as easily actionable as possible, and a good balance between concise, comprehensive, and attention grabbing)
...and then interprets it as spam, because that's what email asking you to do something usually is, and throws it out.
(or if I'm not careful, it goes to spam in the first place and they never even see it)
3. Seeing my work consistently amount to nothing makes it feel like it isn't worth anything, which is only half true
People often aren't functionally getting anything good out of the stuff I make (since they either aren't seeing it, or aren't taking action), so it generally feels like nothing I do matters or contributes to The Greater Good...
...but in reality what I'm doing COULD be useful if I could get information to people more effectively...
I haven't been able to effectively try more communication methods, because mass email is the default thing people ask for, for example higher-ups have decided we're not doing posters anymore, in favor of digital signage instead, which is cool, except that I have access to literally one digital sign in an underground hallway between buildings. We try to do events but the max staffing we can get is like, a couple student staff who don't engage people...
4. Email open rate is a shit metric and it's lead people above me to assume email is working ok no I'm going to shut up now